Huntington Heights Designated Historic

NEWPORT NEWS — The Newport News City Council on Tuesday made the North End/Huntington Heights neighborhood a historic district.

The designation is expected to help preserve the neighborhood, which is already on the national and state registers of historic places.

The council's action allows residents to apply for historic preservation grants and loans and create an architectural review board, which will set architectural guidelines for homeowners.

(Hilton Village's architectural review board must approve changes homeowners want to make to the exterior of their houses.)

The North End/Huntington Heights district stretches from 50th Street to 72nd Street, between Huntington Avenue and Warwick Boulevard. Houses there were built throughout much of the first half of the 20th century.

Most homeowners there want the historic designation the neighborhood received on Tuesday.

"Help us protect our houses," said Thomas Chew, who owns a house on Huntington. "Help us protect our neighborhood."

Some residents fear that the architectural review board will require homeowners to do expensive repairs they won't be able to afford.

Mark Di Vincenzo can be reached at 247-4719 or by e-mail at mdivincenzo@dailypress.com

PROTEST

More than 100 people showed up at the Newport News City Council meeting in a silent protest against the 12.1 billion-gallon reservoir the city wants to build in King William County. The group, identified as "representatives of the Mattaponi (Indian) Tribe and friends," marched into council chambers, holding signs that read, "Don't Let Newport News Steal Our River" and "Save the Mattaponi/Stop the Reservoir."